


There’s so many ways to give in, eyes close

by Toomanyfandoms99



Series: The Gamblers Codas: A Trilogy [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Coda, Episode: s15e11 The Gamblers, M/M, Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), The Empty (Supernatural), dream - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:27:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22809388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toomanyfandoms99/pseuds/Toomanyfandoms99
Summary: “Jack,” Billie asks, “how do you feel?  Is the transfer working?”Jack tries to nod his head in affirmation, but he realizes he does not have a head to nod.  He can only speak to Billie verbally through the full formation of thoughts, and the lack of senses to communicate is jarring for several beats.“Yes,” Jack parses out slowly.“Good,” Billie steps back and examines Jack.  “How are you settling in?”
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: The Gamblers Codas: A Trilogy [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1639798
Kudos: 31





	There’s so many ways to give in, eyes close

**Author's Note:**

> The title was taken from the song “Simmer” by Hayley Williams.

Jack Kline is plucked from a dreamless sleep by the very woman who hid him in the Empty.

As it has only been a day since Jack was allowed to return to Earth, he is more than a little confused.

This, though, is only a plucking of a mind, not of the entire body. Jack could only imagine the shock it would give Castiel when he opened the bedroom door and saw Jack gone from the bed without a single trace. It would surely make him feel even worse than he does now, having begun a relationship with Dean to fill the void in his bleeding heart.

Billie, better known as Death, sets a manifestation of Jack’s mind in the Empty. A hologram, a ghostly reincarnation of his vessel, is surely there for Billie to focus her gaze on.

“Jack,” Billie asks, “how do you feel? Is the transfer working?”

Jack tries to nod his head in affirmation, but he realizes he does not have a head to nod. He can only speak to Billie verbally through the full formation of thoughts, and the lack of senses to communicate is jarring for several beats.

“Yes,” Jack parses out slowly.

“Good,” Billie steps back and examines Jack. “How are you settling in?”

“In...to what?” Jack asks. “This dream or the Earth?”

“The Earth,” Billie says, lipstick forming into a pursed mouth.

“Right,” Jack says slowly, “I’m okay, I guess.”

“Did Sam and Dean find you?” Billie asks curiously. “I find it difficult to track you in my realm.”

“Castiel found me after I ate some hearts,” Jack says numbly, “Sam and Dean were off doing...I don’t even know what they were doing.”

Billie studies his hologram. “You know that the heart-eating is essential for now, right?”

“Yes,” Jack hisses, “but that doesn’t make it any less pretty.”

His voice, all of a sudden...it sounded like Dean. Or Sam when he was stressed. Or a very sad and bitter Castiel.

Weird.

Being around older men made Jack feel ten times older than he really was, which would be a little boy if he were a normal human.

Billie simply blinks. “It is Castiel that found you, then? Castiel?”

“Yes,” Jack says, “what is your fixation on him?”

Billie folds her arms defensively. “I am just surprised.”

“Why?” Jack wants to snort, but he settles for staring pointedly at Billie. “Castiel is the one of the three who did not move on from my death. Well...he did, but...but I’m still there, in his thoughts. I don’t need powers to know that.”

“Alright,” Billie inclines her head, “that is a valid point. The Winchesters have normalized the sudden deaths of loved ones rather effectively. What I meant was...Castiel is always someone I could never understand.”

“You know why he killed you,” Jack says, recalling Billie mention Castiel made her Death, “it was to protect them.”

He does not mean for the ‘them,’ meaning Sam and Dean, to be venomous, but it sounds that way to Jack’s mind in the echoing Empty.

Billie tilts her head a little, brown eyes squinting. “Do you hate them?” She asks.

Jack does not know. Ever since he was brought into flesh the day before, his emotions were hard to understand. He figured at first it was his form of puberty, but that does not explain it, as he is more human than nephilim at the moment.

The hesitation causes Billie to unfold her arms. “It is a trying time, I know. Castiel is worried about the heart-eating, but you must continue. You will need your strength in the weeks to come.”

“What do you recommend I do?” Jack asks petulantly. “Sneak out of the bunker to snatch an unsuspecting soul’s heart straight from his chest?”

Billie’s eyes flash. “You’re in the bunker?” She steps towards him. “No wonder I can’t get a read on your location.”

“I can’t do this,” Jack thinks, and it is verbalized.

Billie’s mouth snaps shut, and her own running thoughts cease. She purses her lips again, and she says a beat later, “I am following a book of destiny. You cannot deviate from the ultimate plan. God will not die otherwise.”

“There are an infinite number of outcomes,” Jack says, “you showed me the library yourself. Pick another book.”

“I can’t,” Billie says, “not without sacrificing a happy ending.”

“No ending is happy,” Jack says negatively, “not really. God’s death will bring Hell on to Earth.”

“Not if you’re alive,” Billie counters, “not if you regain your strength and come into your full power.”

“You want me to become God,” Jack says dully, “but what makes you think I’ll be any better than him?”

“You have to be,” Billie says, gaze burning into Jack’s mind, “I dare you.”

“This does not account for them,” Jack points out thoughtfully, “I am unsure if I can save them.”

“You don’t have to be sure,” Billie says, “just try your best.” She smiles, a glint in her eyes. “A certain hunter and angel need a happily ever after.”

Jack is jolted, an electric shock traveling through his brain. He is thrown into space, his voice echoing and traveling throughout the Empty. “How...how do you know about Dean and Castiel, when...when I just found out myself?”

“You’ve always known,” Billie says, “you just chose to ignore it.”

Jack says nothing, his mind reeling to a screeching halt. His thoughts will be verbalized if he entertains them, so he does not.

“Accept it,” Billie steps closer, “and get it over with. I know it’s been a long day for you, but I entreat you to think of all the terrible things that could have happened to you, or Castiel, or Sam, or Dean. Is this really so bad?”

When she puts it in those terms…

“No,” Jack blurts.

Billie nods. “Exactly. Accept it and move on. The end. Now eat more hearts. Goodbye.”

Billie snaps her fingers abruptly, and Jack’s mind is shot out of a cannon. The wind rushes at him, and he closes his eyes.

He wakes in his bed, his mind transported back into his vessel. The transference takes only a moment to get used to, and when he does, he turns on his side. The clock shows it is eight in the morning, so he chooses to leave the bed.

New day, new problems.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


End file.
